UNGA76

16 Days of Activism

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day.

News | 29 November 2021
The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international campaign that kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. It was started by activists at the inaugural Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 1991 and it is used as an organizing strategy by individuals and organizations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.

The International Labour Organization’s Office for the United Nations has been actively engaging with member states to increase the ratification of ILO Convention 190, Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019. ILO Convention No. 190 (or C190 for short) is the first international treaty to recognize the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment.

Governments that ratify C190 will be required to put in place the necessary laws and policy measures to prevent and address violence and harassment in the world of work. The Convention represents a historic opportunity to shape a future of work based on dignity and respect for all.

To support the 16 Days of Activism, ILO Office for the United Nations invited Member States who have ratified C190 to highlight the convention and encourage other Members States to follow their initiative. As in previous years, the colour orange was be used to represent a brighter future, free from violence against women and girls, as a unifying theme running through all the global activities of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women campaign (UNiTE Campaign), launched in 2008.